Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
This automated analysis scores the text on the likely presence of emotional, language, and social tones. There are no right or wrong scores; this is just an indication of tones readers or listeners may pick up from the text.
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Emotion Tone
Anger
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Disgust
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Fear
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Joy
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Sadness
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Language Tone
Analytical
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Confident
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Tentative
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Social Tone
Openness
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Conscientiousness
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Extraversion
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Agreeableness
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Emotional Range
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Tone of specific sentences
Tones
Emotion
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Anger
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Scripture Reading
OpeningPrayer
Introduction
Review/Preview
Begin Expostion
(1)“At that time” explain chronology of Matthew
“Herod the tetrarch”
tetrarch = Ruler of 1/4
AKA Herod Antipas
Son of Herod the great
Technically was “ruler of 1/3” (Split up Herod the Great’s kingdom with Archelaus (ethnarch) ruling Judea, and Herod Phillip (tetrarch).
Antipas rules as Tetrarch of Galilee and Perea
sometimes referred to as a “king”
He heard about the fame of Jesus
Recall some of the miracles done up to this point.
Talk about His fame.
(2) His “servants” is literally “his boys” implying his inner circle.
Herod Antipas has concluded that Jesus must be John the Baptist resurrected.
Why?
It explains, in his mind, how these miracles are happening.
We will get back to this question of why.
Why did Matthew include the story?
How does it contribute to his theme?
Why does he include the next part?
Herod executed John the Baptist.
Why?
Background info
He did this because of Herodias.
This lady was a granddaughter of Herod the Great, being the daughter of his son Aristobulus.
She married her uncle Herod Philip (who is to be distinguished from the tetrarch Philip, Luke 3:1), who was half brother to Herod Antipas.9
Herod Philip and Herodias had a daughter, Salome.
Herod Antipas married a Nabatean princess (whose name is not known), the daughter of King Aretas, but he and Herodias fell in love.
They agreed to marry, and Herodias left his half-brother Herod Philip (as Matthew says, she was the wife of his brother Philip; she was also his niece).
The daughter of Aretas got wind of what was happening and fled to her father, who promptly went to war with Herod and defeated him (which provoked Roman intervention).10
It was a tangled and complex situation, but what is clear is that the marriage of Herod Antipas and Herodias was contrary to Old Testament law (Lev.
18:16; 20:21).
Leon Morris, The Gospel according to Matthew, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: W.B. Eerdmans; Inter-Varsity Press, 1992), 370.
Explain marriage further...
(3)More history, why did Herod bind and imprison John?
Political/spiritual reasons
Josephus
(4) Because what was John doing?
He was calling sin, “sin”
Clear violation to OT law to marry a sister-in-law while the brother was still alive.
This is a political/religious situation
People thought he was a prophet
Herod wanted to kill him but didn’t want to make him a martyr
Salome danced and it pleased Herod
speculation
The dance pleased Herod enough that he made an incredible promise.
In Mark we read that the extent of the promise was up to half of the kingdom
We also read there that she consulted with her mother Herodias
So what was her request?
She requested for him to do what he was too scared to do…to execute John the Baptist
Beheading was illegal as was execution without a trial
Herod was the type of ruler who feared being viewed as weak, here, he “was sorry” not that John would die or that he would kill him but that it might cause political turmoil.
Because he made this promise in the public fashion he went with the request.
John’s disciples buried John and went to tell Jesus
This indicated that John’s disciples recognized Jesus as their new leader.
So… what about those questions?
Why does Matthew include the story of Herod hearing about Jesus’ fame?
Why does he include the history about John the Baptist?
How does this contribute to the overall theme of the book?
All three of these questions are answered in the main idea that...
Jesus is the promised Messiah-King of the Old Testament so believe His message
What do we see about Herod?
Who is he?
His father was Herod the Great
What did he do?
“Like father, like son”
Herod, while not a devout Jew was certainly familiar with the prophecies of the OT
Herod recognized that there was something going on here with these miracles
He got the details wrong
...
So what was Jesus’ message?
It was the same as John’s
Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is hand (3:2, 4:17)
Applications
Many
Gospel is the good news that transforms the world
Bottom up rather than top down.
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